Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Products: Imports

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish the Animals Abroad Bill.

Scott Mann: HM Government takes the welfare of all animals seriously and as set out in our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, we are committed to promoting high animal welfare standards, both at home and abroad. We have an ambitious agenda of animal welfare and conservation reforms, and this includes introducing or supporting legislation for specific reforms. We have pledged to ban the imports of hunting trophies from thousands of species. HM Government is committed to a ban that is among the strongest in the world and leads the way in protecting endangered animals. We welcome the Private Member’s Bill, led by the hon. Member for Crawley, that will deliver this. We are also committed to banning the import and export of detached shark fins and shark fin products. This ban will help ensure that shark fins obtained through unsustainable and cruel finning practices are not entering the UK. HM Government is committed to the ban and welcomes the Private Member’s Bill, led by the hon. Member for Neath, on this topic.

Dogs: Imports

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2022 to Question 40929 on Dogs: Imports, if he will publish a breakdown of the countries of origin of the dogs commercially imported into the UK from abroad in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Scott Mann: Below are tables to show the countries of origin of commercial dog imports. The data for 2020 is for the UK, while the data for 2021 and 2022 (up to 31 August 2022) is for Great Britain only. We do not hold data for Northern Ireland for 2021 and 2022. This information is drawn from external TRACES and IPAFF systems not directly controlled by the department. Country Of Origin from EU 2020Country Of Origin from Rest of World 2020AustriaAntigua and BarbudaBelgiumArgentinaBulgariaAustraliaCroatiaBahrainCyprusBarbadosCzech RepublicBelarusDenmarkBermudaEstoniaBosnia and HerzegovinaFinlandBrazilFranceCanadaGermanyCayman IslandsGreeceColombiaHungaryCosta RicaIreland (Rep. of)EgyptItalyEthiopiaLatviaFrench PolynesiaLithuaniaHong KongMaltaIndiaNetherlandsIndonesiaPolandIsraelPortugalJapanRomaniaJordanSlovakiaKenyaSloveniaKorea (South)SpainKuwaitSwedenLebanonSwitzerlandMacao  Malawi Malaysia Mauritius Mexico Namibia New Zealand Nigeria North Macedonia Oman Peru Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Serbia Singapore South Africa Sri Lanka Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turks and Caicos UAE Uganda Ukraine Uruguay USA Vietnam ZimbabweCountry Of Origin from EU 2021Country Of Origin from Rest of World 2021AustriaArgentinaBelgiumAustraliaBulgariaBahamasCroatiaBahrainCyprusBarbadosCzechiaBelarusDenmarkBermudaEstoniaBrazilFinlandCanadaFranceCayman IslandsGermanyChinaGreeceColombiaHungaryCosta RicaIcelandEcuadorItalyEgyptLatviaEthiopiaLithuaniaGuamLuxembourgHong KongMaltaIndiaNetherlandsIndonesiaNorthern IrelandIsraelNorwayJamaicaPolandJapanPortugalJordanRepublic of IrelandKenyaRomaniaKuwaitSlovakiaLebanonSloveniaMacaoSpainMalawiSwedenMalaysiaSwitzerlandMauritius Mexico Mozambique Namibia Nepal New Zealand Nigeria Oman Panama Peru Philippines Qatar Russian Federation Saudi Arabia Serbia Singapore South Africa South Korea Taiwan Thailand Turkey Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States of America Viet Nam Zimbabwe Country Of Origin from EU 2022Country Of Origin from Rest of World 2022AustriaAlbaniaBelgiumAlgeriaBulgariaAustraliaCroatiaBahrainCyprusBarbadosCzech RepublicBermudaDenmarkBrazilEstoniaBruneiFinlandCanadaFranceCayman IslandsGermanyChileGreeceChinaHungaryColombiaIsle of ManCosta RicaIreland (Rep. of)Dominican RepublicItalyEcuadorLatviaEgyptLithuaniaFijiLuxembourgHong KongNetherlandsIndiaNorthern IrelandIndonesiaNorwayIsraelPolandJapanPortugalJordanRomaniaKenyaSlovakiaKorea (South)SloveniaKuwaitSpainLebanonSwedenMalaysiaSwitzerlandMauritius Mexico Namibia New Zealand Nigeria Oman Panama Peru Philippines Qatar Russia Saint Lucia Saudi Arabia Singapore South Africa Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Turkey UAE Uganda Ukraine USA Vietnam Zimbabwe

Ministry of Defence

Afghanistan: Interpreters

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Afghan civilian interpreters and (b) other locally employed civilians have submitted injury compensation claims to his Department in the UK in each of the last 10 years.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many injury compensation claims submitted to his Department in the UK by (a) Afghan civilian interpreters and (b) other locally employed civilians (i) have been accepted and (ii) are pending more than (A) six and (B) 12 months after submission.

Sarah Atherton: As the hon. Member will I hope appreciate, the last few weeks have seen a unique set of events and circumstances, and I sincerely apologise that, amongst all of those, there has been a delay in responding to these questions. Unfortunately it is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member's questions and I am not yet in a position to respond fully. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.I apologise again for the delay in responding and once information is received I will ensure it is forwarded immediately.

Department of Health and Social Care

Health: Disadvantaged

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to reduce regional health inequalities.

Dr Caroline Johnson: Each Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) is required to write an integrated care strategy by December 2022 that sets out how the assessed local needs can be met through the Integrated Care Board, partner local authorities or NHS England. This must include clear plans to reduce disparities in health access, experience and outcomes. The Department regional teams are working with ICPs to ensure that plans are comprehensive, ambitious and are driven by the evidence on local need.

Health: Equality

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to tackle racial health disparities. .

Dr Caroline Johnson: There is a range of action taking place across the system to tackle ethnic health disparities. This includes work to address disparities in local maternity systems. Last year, NHS England published equity and equality guidance for local maternity systems, which focuses on actions to reduce disparities for women and babies from black, Asian and mixed ethnic groups and those living in the most deprived areas and included an investment of £6.8 million to support the implementation of local action plans.Each Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) is required to write an integrated care strategy by December 2022 that sets out how the assessed local needs can be met through the Integrated Care Board, partner local authorities or NHS England. This must include clear plans to reduce disparities in health access, experience and outcomes. The Department’s regional teams are working with ICPs to ensure that plans are comprehensive, ambitious and are driven by the evidence on local need.Good health is driven by a range of factors, from income to housing and wider environment, as well as health behaviours, wider risk factors and access to high quality services. Some groups are at greater risk of poorer health outcomes than others, with disparities by ethnicity, socio-economic status, and geography. The department continues to improve the evidence base on the drivers of poor health and disparities, including why some groups fare worse than others and the policy solutions to address it.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of alcohol-related harm, and what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS resulting from alcohol-related harm in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Dr Caroline Johnson: In 2020, there were 6,980 deaths from alcohol-specific causes registered in England. This is a 20% increase compared with 2019. In England in 2020/21, there was an estimated 248,000 hospital admissions, where the main reason for admission to hospital was attributable to alcohol.There is no regular annual calculation of the cost of alcohol-related harm to the National Health Service. Such estimates would require detailed disease and procedure data from primary and secondary care, followed by complex analysis to estimate the proportions which can be attributed to alcohol.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Freedom of Information

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when her Department expects to publish its action plan in response to the Information Commissioner's Office's enforcement notice issued on the 5 September 2022 regarding Freedom of Information requests.

James Duddridge: The Department will publish its action plan in line with the requirements of the notice.

Department for International Trade: Freedom of Information

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department plans to appeal the enforcement notice issued by the Information Commissioner on the 5 September 2022 on Freedom of Information requests.

James Duddridge: I can confirm that the Department does not plan to appeal the enforcement notice issued by the Information Commissioner on 5 September 2022.